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THIRD AND FOURTH COMMANDMENTS
Rest, Community Worship & Family Life
(C 2168-2257, USC Ch. 27-28)
In this lesson we will look at:
• Third commandment
• Sabbath rest
• Sabbath worship
• Duties of children
• Parental duties
• Fourth commandment and civic authorities
The third commandment (C 2168-2195)
“Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day” (Ex 20:8).
The Catechism states: “The third commandment of
the Decalogue recalls the holiness of the Sabbath:
‘The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to
the Lord.’” (C 2168).
The two-fold purpose of the Sabbath Day is rest from
work and worship of God, more specifically, commu-
nity worship of God.
Sabbath rest
The Catechism begins its teaching on the third
commandment by reflecting on the meaning of the
Sabbath in the Old Testament. Ex 31:15 states: “The
seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the
Lord.” Dt 5:12 stresses that the Sabbath is a day to
renew our covenant with God. Hence, the Sabbath is
linked to both creation and covenant, two major
events in the history of salvation.
Gen 2:2 tells us that God “rested on the seventh day.”
Of course, God never gets tired. But as the inspired
storytellers of Genesis imagined the work of creation,
they could not image it without a pause for rest.
Why rest? For the people of Israel who did slave
labor in Egypt, the thought of a whole day of rest was
a wonderful new blessing. It was and is also a
reminder to us that life is not all about doing, but also
about being.
Concerning the Sabbath, scripture scholar John
Craghan writes: “Sabbath is derived from the Hebrew
root meaning “to stop, cease,” namely from work.
This is the institution of the Sabbath, not as a day of
worship, but as a day of rest. It is a celebration of
trust in God, who does not spend the final day in
exhausting activities but in peace and quiet. The
Sabbath is, therefore, an invitation to the Israelite to
enter into the entire rhythm of creation.
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Essentially, the Sabbath rest is the sanctification of
time. It boldly asserts that there are limits to our
feverish pursuit of goods, that there should be a pause
at this special time to recognize God’s gift-giving. As
Ex 31:17 puts it, on the Sabbath we should not only
rest but also be refreshed. It is hardly an accident
that the sacred author has God bless and hallow the
seventh day.
The rest or being aspect of life is beautifully empha-
sized in the Mary and Martha story in Lk 10:38-42.
Martha is busy doing many things and complains to
Jesus about Mary’s failure to help her. Jesus
responds: “Mary has chosen the better part, which
shall not be taken from her.” In this story Jesus is
telling us that there is a time to do and also a time to
be, a time to rest from doing and a time to sit to
contemplate God. Resting gives us the opportunity
to recreate ourselves and get ready for another week
of work.
The Catechism notes: “God’s action is a model for
human action. If God “rested and was refreshed” on
the seventh day, man, too, ought to “rest” and should
let others, especially the poor, “be refreshed.”
The United States Catholic Catechism (p.368) states:
“Sunday rest puts our whole life into perspective. It
helps us stand back from material concerns and
reflect on spiritual values. Taking a breather from
the pressures of the workplace, we are freed to open
our souls to matters that have eternal significance.
Sunday rest allows us to look again at the wonders of
nature and experience the harmony and peace placed
there by God. It is a precious time for rediscovering
the fundamental goodness of creation as it comes
from God’s providential hand. Sunday also provides
the opportunity for families to be together and to
engage in common activities. Weekday schedules
often require members of the family to spend much
time away from each other.”
Pause: How did you spend Sunday when you were growing
up? How do you spend Sunday now? Has our society lost its
sense of the Sabbath—a day to stop work, and to rest and
worship God?
Sabbath worship
Sunday is the Christian Sabbath for on this day, Jesus
rose from the dead. Sunday is sometimes called the
“Eighth Day” – a day which transcends time and
points to eternity. Sunday is also called the “Lord’s
Day.” This title had special meaning for the early
Christians because it called to mind Jesus’ victory
over death. If, for the Jews, the Sabbath calls to mind
God’s creation of the world, for Christians, Sunday
calls to mind our new creation in Christ.
For Christians, the central and most important way to
keep holy the Lord’s Day is through participating in
the Eucharist. We know from the Acts of the Apostles
and the writings of the Early Church Fathers that
from the beginning of Christianity, Christians
gathered together on Sundays to celebrate the Lord’s
Supper, to do what he had done the night before he
died.
Because the Eucharist is the foundation and heart of
the Christian life, Church law requires Catholics to
participate in Sunday Mass or its vigil. One can, of
course, be excused for not attending Mass for some
good reason, e.g., sickness, travel or mandatory work
on a Sunday.
Pause: What one thing could you do to help a non-
churchgoing Catholic to return to the Eucharist?
The fourth commandment (C 2196-2257, USC Ch. 28)
“Honor your father and your mother.”
The first three commandments help us to understand
how we are to love and honor God with our whole
being. The remaining seven commandments tell us
how we are to love and relate to others. The fourth
commandment addresses family relationships, espe-
cially the respect and honor that children should have
for their parents. The fourth commandment also ad-
dresses the duties of governments and citizens.
Today, families come in many shapes and forms: the
traditional family of husband and wife and children,
single parent families, blended families, families in
which grandparents are the primary caregivers of
their grandchildren, families made up of adults with
foster children.
“The family is the original cell of society” (C 2207).
It is prior to the state in origin. The state did not
invent the family. Therefore, it has no right to
reinvent it. The Christian family is a community of
persons equal in dignity and a living symbol of the
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unity of the Blessed Trinity. It is a “domestic church”
in which the gospel of Jesus is taught by word and
deed.
Duties of children (C 2214-2220, USC p. 377)
On Holy Family Sunday, we listen to the following
reading from the book of Sirach.
The Lord sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.
He who honors his father atones for sins;
he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
He who honors his father is gladdened by children,
and when he prays he is heard.
He who reveres his father will live a long life;
he obeys the Lord who brings comfort to his
mother.
My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate with him;
revile him not in the fullness of your strength.
For kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
it will serve as a sin offering—
it will take lasting root.
(Sir 3:2-6, 12-14)
It is a wonderful and inspiring thing to see children
love, honor and respect their parents. It is very sad
and painful to see parents and children who are
alienated from each other. Ideally, children are raised
in a home by a mother and father who love each other
and also love and cherish their children. But life
being what it is, sometimes children are raised in
very dysfunctional and unhappy home atmosphere.
When this happens, it is much more challenging for
children to live the fourth commandment which calls
them to honor their father and their mother. For-
tunately, there are many inspiring stories of adult
children who were failed badly by their parents as
youngsters and who were able, with the grace of God,
to forgive their parents and reconcile with them.
In the home, children should be taught to respect,
honor, love and obey their parents. This is usually a
much easier task for children to achieve when they
feel loved and cherished by their parents than for
children who grow up in a home in which parents do
not respect each other and are neglectful of their
children.
Pause: What is your opinion on how parents are raising
children today in contrast to how your parents raised you?
Parental duties (C 2221-2231, USC p. 378)
The awesome privilege and responsibility of parents
is to allow themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit to
help their children become the person God created
them to be. As all parents know, no two children are
the same. Each is unique and special. God has a
special plan for each child. Parents who often seek
the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit will play
a very important role in helping their children discov-
er and become the person God created them to be.
More specifically, parents live out the parental aspect
of faithful discipleship when they:
• Attend to the physical, spiritual, intellectual,
emotional, and moral needs of their children. It is a
big challenge to keep these FIVE needs of children in
proper balance. It is very easy for parents to over-
emphasize one set of needs to the detriment of others.
For example, if children are very involved in sports,
(which can be very helpful to the character formation
of a child), a particular sport may become more
important than Sunday Mass. If the intellectual
development of a child is overly emphasized, the
emotional and social development may be neglected.
• Develop the virtues. In his letter to the Colossians,
Paul says “You are God’s chosen ones, he loves you
and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in
kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear
with one another, forgive one another… Over all
these clothes put on love” (Col 3:12-15). One of the
most important and challenging roles of parents is to
help their children grow in virtues that will help them
follow God’s ways, help them to be responsible citi-
zens and generally all around good people. Writing
about this aspect of parental duties, Fr. Al McBride
writes: “It will be hard to keep the commandments
without the acquisition of virtues, grooved habits that
incline the person to virtuous behavior. Children need
training in virtues, through storytelling that inspires
them to virtue, through good parental example, and
finally through repetitive acts of virtue which ingrain
these acts into their behavior and attitudes. Virtues
also become the source of self-fulfillment.”
(Fr. McBride’s College Catechism, p.219)
• Praying together. It has been well said that “the
family that prays together stays together.” Blessed
are the children who know that prayer is important to
their parents and who have parents that pray with
them in their homes and church family.
• Sacramental life of the Church. An important part
of a child’s formation is introducing them to the
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sacramental life of the Church, helping them to grow
in their appreciation of the Eucharist and the Sacra-
ment of Reconciliation. This can be especially chal-
lenging in parishes where little efforts are made to
involve children in the liturgy.
Pause: What are three or more characteristics of a strong
family?
The fourth commandment and civic authorities
(C 2234-2246, USC p. 379)
Church teaching on the fourth commandment extends
beyond family relationships to the duties of civic
authorities and the duties of citizens within society.
All authority—whether within the family, the Church
or society—is from God and should be exercised in a
way that is respectful of the dignity of others. No
human authority should seek to establish any law that
is contrary to the dignity of others or to the natural
law. Government leaders should defend and protect
the family as created by God. On the other hand,
citizens have a duty to respect and obey legitimate
civic authorities and to obey the laws of the state that
promote the common good. This includes our moral
obligation to pay taxes, exercise our right to vote, and
defend the nation if attacked.
Civil disobedience. Citizens are not obliged to obey
laws that are contrary to moral order (C 2242). In our
time we have had outstanding examples of citizens
refusing to abide by laws that discriminated against
some persons because of race, color of their skin, etc.
e.g., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin L.
King and their supporters.
Charter of family rights. In his apostolic exhortation
On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern
World, Pope John Paul II cites a Bill of Rights for the
family. As we read John Paul’s Bill of Rights, we
can ask ourselves: where are some of these rights
being denied or challenged in our world today?
“The political community has a duty to honor the
family, to assist it, and to ensure especially:
• the freedom to establish a family, have children,
and bring them up in keeping with the family’s
own moral and religious convictions;
• the protection of the stability of the marriage bond
and the institution of the family;
• the freedom to profess one’s faith, to hand it on,
and raise one’s children in it, with the necessary
means and institutions;
• the right to private property, to free enterprise, to across all the parishes of Christendom, priest and
obtain work and housing, and the right to people continue to work together in order to carry
emigrate; out this command, “Do this in Memory of Me.”
(Don Gregory Dix O.S.B.)
• in keeping with the country’s institutions, the right
to medical care, assistance for the aged, and
family benefits; Meditation II
• the protection of security and health, especially Lord God, we thank you for the gift of family.
with respect to dangers like drugs, pornography, We acknowledge that our image and name
alcoholism, etc.; as family come from you.
• the freedom to form associations, with other We believe that within our family
families and so have representatives before civil lies a homemade holiness.
authorities” (Art. 46). We affirm that it is in this household of faith
that we experience your presence,
Pause: Negotiating the aging process and caring for elderly your forgiveness, and your love.
parents is a big issue today. What are your thoughts on this We are family.
aspect of family life? We give thanks to you for the many joys and
blessings that have come to us through our family.
Suggested actions As family, we sometimes feel pain.
And so we offer to you our disappointments,
If you tend to work too much, find a way to build frustrations and hurts.
times of relaxation into your week. Help us to forgive those members of our family,
including ourselves, who have caused pain.
Pray for Catholics who no longer go to the Eucharist.
If you know Catholics who are disconnected from We pray for the strength
Church, find ways to invite them to events at your to be a light within our family.
parish. May we open our hearts, our eyes and ears
and carry our light to those in need.
Pray often for family members who are going
through difficult times. God, Creator of the earth and all its people,
help us to be mindful that,
Consider fighting legislation that hurts the dignity of as members of one global family,
family life. we are equal in your eyes.
Help us to continue to appreciate the diversity
Meditation I of persons in our homes and in our world.
As members equal in human dignity,
may we build a better world
Was ever another command so obeyed? For
and proclaim our willingness
century after century, spreading slowly to every
to be the holy people you call us to be.
continent and country and among every race on
Amen.
earth, this action has been done in every conceivable
human circumstance for every conceivable human
need, from infancy and before it, to extreme old age
and after it, from the pinnacles of earthly greatness
to the refuge of fugitives in the caves and dens of the
earth. Men have found no better thing than this to do
for kings at their crowning and for criminals going to
the scaffold; for armies in triumph or for a bride and
Fr. Eamon Tobin ©
bridegroom in a country church…for the famine of a
Ascension Catholic Church
whole province or for the soul of a dear lover…and
best of all, week by week, and month by month, on a Melbourne, Florida
tobin2@live.com
hundred thousand Sundays, faithfully, unfailingly,
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